Sunday, August 24, 2008

5 Things I Can't Wait to Stop Saying to My Kids

I love being a mom to my very young children. I really do. I especially love the baby stage, I have said many times that I'll take an infant anyday, I can handle the sleep issues, crying, nursing, all that. I love that part and I feel like I'm good at it. It's when they start walking and talking that my patience and confidence wane. I still love it, but it is sooooooo hard.

Sometimes I give myself a little pep-talk about how this is just one stage in my life, someday they all will be older and be able to feed themselves, go potty by themselves, entertain themselves . . . and then I will miss how little and sweet they are now. But I do long for the day when my thoughts and words and daily routine are saner, calmer, more grown-up oriented. In particular, I long for the day that I am no longer saying any of the following:

1. Put it down, that's not a toy. This applies to makeup, my cell phone, scissors, picture frames, anything and everything, really, that could be broken, or break something else, or be lost, or spill, or that just isn't, well, a toy.

2. You only write on paper! As opposed to furniture, walls, or skin.

3. Are you dry? The stage when you are asking this is accompanied by doing lots of extra laundry and wiping the floor way too often.

4. Why are you wet? You would think this is related to the last question, but it's not. Too often, this question reveals an entirely different surprise.

5. If you (insert dangerous or violent activity) again, I will spank you. Before kids, of course I thought I would never spank. And I hardly ever do. This sentence is always (ok, almost always) preceded by a warning, and then a time out, and I do try to reserve it for dangerous things like unbuckling their seatbelts repeatedly while we're driving, or standing on top of the baby, or running into the street, or holding the baby upside-down by her ankles, or throwing toys down the stairs, etc.

I am sure there will new things to say someday over and over, about doing homework, chores, cleaning their rooms, etc. To everything there is a season. I just hope this season leaves my sanity intact.

Comments

5 Things I Can't Wait to Stop Saying to My Kids

I love being a mom to my very young children. I really do. I especially love the baby stage, I have said many times that I'll take an infant anyday, I can handle the sleep issues, crying, nursing, all that. I love that part and I feel like I'm good at it. It's when they start walking and talking that my patience and confidence wane. I still love it, but it is sooooooo hard.

Sometimes I give myself a little pep-talk about how this is just one stage in my life, someday they all will be older and be able to feed themselves, go potty by themselves, entertain themselves . . . and then I will miss how little and sweet they are now. But I do long for the day when my thoughts and words and daily routine are saner, calmer, more grown-up oriented. In particular, I long for the day that I am no longer saying any of the following:

1. Put it down, that's not a toy. This applies to makeup, my cell phone, scissors, picture frames, anything and everything, really, that could be broken, or break something else, or be lost, or spill, or that just isn't, well, a toy.

2. You only write on paper! As opposed to furniture, walls, or skin.

3. Are you dry? The stage when you are asking this is accompanied by doing lots of extra laundry and wiping the floor way too often.

4. Why are you wet? You would think this is related to the last question, but it's not. Too often, this question reveals an entirely different surprise.

5. If you (insert dangerous or violent activity) again, I will spank you. Before kids, of course I thought I would never spank. And I hardly ever do. This sentence is always (ok, almost always) preceded by a warning, and then a time out, and I do try to reserve it for dangerous things like unbuckling their seatbelts repeatedly while we're driving, or standing on top of the baby, or running into the street, or holding the baby upside-down by her ankles, or throwing toys down the stairs, etc.

I am sure there will new things to say someday over and over, about doing homework, chores, cleaning their rooms, etc. To everything there is a season. I just hope this season leaves my sanity intact.